Advice to Parents Whose Child will be the First in the Family to Go to College

Advice to Parents Whose Child will be the First in the Family to Go to College

My wife and I are looking for help in getting our son into

college. He is a junior in high school. His mother and I are on

disability. My wife is fighting stage four breast cancer. I was hurt

at work two years ago. We would like to see our son go to college but

there is no way we would be able to pay for it. My wife’s education

is 11 years and mine is 7 years. We are hoping we can get some help. I

was told because of our situation there would be lots of help

available to us, but being uneducated ourselves it’s very difficult

for us to even know how to look. My wife was given two to four years

to live by her doctor at Dana-Farber in Boston. That was two years ago

and we are praying for her to live to see him graduate high school and

longer. Any help or advice you can give us would mean a lot to us.

— Jim R.

Planning and paying for college is difficult even for parents who have

been to college. It is complicated. The alphabet soup of acronyms like

FAFSA and EFC can discourage and intimidate some families. Most

families worry about missing something important. They often worry

more about what they don’t know than about what they do know.

Do not panic. There only a few things you really need to do to get

financial aid for college.

First, find yourself a “mentor” who can help you understand the steps

you need to take. This should be someone who has recent knowledge and

experience helping students pay for college, such as a high school

guidance counselor or the financial aid administrator at a local

college. It could also be a family friend, a teacher or someone you

know from church. Beware of anybody who is trying to sell you a

product or service, as their advice may be self-serving. It is also

important that your mentor’s knowledge is based on recent

experience. Friends who went to college many years ago may mean well,

but financial aid changes a lot every year.

Fastweb’s College Power Bulletin

is a short four-page guide that discusses in simple terms why a

student should go to college and how to pay for college.

(See also the Fastweb article

Unique Concerns of First-Generation College Students

for practical tips on making the most of the freshman year in college.)

Your son will be considered a first generation college student.

A first generation college student is a student whose parents and

siblings have never gone to college. In some cases a student will be

considered a first generation college student if neither parent has

obtained a Bachelor’s degree, even if one of the parents has an

Associate’s degree or Certificate.

There are many scholarships available for first generation college

students. Sometimes these are called “first in family”

scholarships. The Coca Cola Scholars Foundation sponsors one of the

largest scholarship programs for first generation college students

through about 400 colleges. So ask each college whether they have

scholarships and other special assistance for first generation college

students. Also ask your church if they offer any college

scholarships. Other scholarships are listed in the Fastweb article

Scholarships for First Generation Students.

Additional scholarships for first generation college students are

included in the Fastweb scholarship database. Create a personal

background profile for your son to find scholarships for which he is

eligible. This is a free service. To see scholarships for first

generation college students, edit your son’s scholarship search

profile by clicking on the “My Profile” link in the upper right hand

corner of the Fastweb web site. Then click on “Parent

Activities”. Check the box for “Didn’t Attend/Graduate College” in the

list of Parent Attributes. While editing the profile, look for other

relevant student and parent attributes. Students who answer the

optional questions tend to match twice as many scholarships as

students who answer only the required questions. For example, there’s

a parent attribute for “Cancer, Survivor/Living With”. (Several

scholarships for children of parents who have had cancer can be found

at http://ift.tt/2v9sX53,

but more scholarships are listed in the Fastweb scholarship database.)

Beware of scholarship scams. If you have to pay money to get money, it

is probably a scam. Never invest more than a postage stamp to find

out information about scholarships or to apply for scholarships.

Nobody can guarantee you’ll win a scholarship. Do not give out your

bank account number, credit card number or social security number to

apply for a scholarship.

When choosing where your son should apply to college, don’t skip any

particular college because of a high sticker price. Look on the

college’s web site for a net price calculator. This tool will ask a few

questions to give you a personalized estimate of the net price after

subtracting grants from the government and the college from the total

cost. Usually the local public college will have the lowest net

price. Community colleges offer a variety of Certificate programs that

take less than a year to complete, as well as 2-year Associate’s

degree programs. Public 4-year colleges offer 4-year Bachelor’s degree

programs. There are also several dozen higher-cost non-profit 4-year

colleges with generous no

loans financial aid policies that may also have a very low net

price for low income and first generation college students.

In January of your son’s senior year in high school you should submit

the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at

www.fafsa.ed.gov. This form is used to apply for federal and state

aid, as well as for financial aid from most colleges. For example, the

FAFSA is used to apply for the federal Pell Grant for low-income

students. (A grant is a gift of money that does not need to be

repaid.) Some colleges have additional forms. You will have to file

the FAFSA form each year your son is in college. If you have questions

about completing the FAFSA, call 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). The

YMCA sponsors a program called

College Goal Sunday

where high school guidance counselors and college financial aid

administrators help families complete the FAFSA in January, February

and March.

The FAFSA form doesn’t have any place where you can mention your

family’s unusual financial circumstances, such as the disability and

cancer. After you file the FAFSA, ask the colleges for a “professional

judgment review”. They will want a copy of any documentation of the

unusual circumstances. The college financial aid administrator can choose to

make adjustments to compensate for the unusual circumstances.

There is also money that you can obtain by filing a federal income tax

return. The Hope Scholarship tax credit provides up to $2,500 a year

based on amounts you paid for your son’s college education. It may be

worthwhile to file a federal income return to claim this tax credit

even if you aren’t required to file a federal income tax return, since

up to $1,000 of the tax credit is refundable. There may also be other

refundable tax credits for which you are eligible.

Source: Fastweb

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